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First Six (postwar)
The postwar First Six (ファーストシックス) are Japanese 6×6cm folding cameras, made by Tokiwa Seiki from 1952 to 1956. Date: , p.361. They are very different from the prewar and wartime First Six made by Kuribayashi. Both the prewar and postwar cameras were distributed by Minagawa Shōten, that was surely the owner of the "First" brand name. General description All the postwar models are horizontal folders, with three-part struts inspired from the Ikonta. These struts are engraved with the First logo inside an oval, that was already used by Minagawa in advertisements for the prewar models. The main body has polygonal ends. The name FIRST SIX is embossed on the leatherette covering of the front door. The back is hinged to the right, as seen by the photographer, and is retained by a sliding bar on the left. The tripod socket is centred under the camera, and there are film flanges at both ends of the bottom plate. All the models have a front-cell focusing lens. Original model The original model was simply called First Six, with no model number. It is easily distinguished by its streamlined top housing, containing an eye-level finder and an angle finder placed side by side. Description The eye-level finder is placed right in the middle, and the angle finder is slightly offset to the left. The name is engraved at the front of the top cover, with the words FIRST and SIX on either side of the finder windows. The shutter release and folding bed release have an identical elongated shape and are symmetrically placed: shutter on the right, folding bed on the left. The advance knob is at the left end; it has knurls on the side and an arrow at the top to indicate the winding direction. Commercial life The original model was announced in Japanese magazines dated June 1952, and advertised from July 1952 to March 1953. , p.754. The camera is mistakenly called "First Six (New Model-I)" and dated 1958 in , item 1300. The November 1952 advertisement in lists the camera with a First Anastigmat 75/3.5 coated lens and a Compur-like shutter (five blades, 1–400) synchronized via an ASA bayonet post. The text mentions the ability to take 6×6cm and 4.5×6cm exposures, by way of a mask. Actual examples None of the actual examples observed so far has the dual-format ability. The back contains a single octagonal red window at the centre, protected by a horizontally sliding cover, inscribed 6X6. The First Six V and VA The First Six V has a redesigned top cover, containing an uncoupled rangefinder combined with the viewfinder. The First Six I and III The First Six I and III have yet another top housing, containing two separate viewfinders, one for each exposure format. The two windows are arranged at the front so as to look like a rangefinder camera, a kind of deception used on other Japanese cameras of the time, such as the Atom Six. Notes Bibliography Original documents * First Camera Works. First Six. User manual for the First Six V published c.1953, date not indicated. Document reproduced in this Flickr set by Rebollo_fr. Recent sources * Items 754–7. (See also the advertisements for items 748, 751 and 753.) * Pp.75, 79 and 83 (brief mentions only). * P.922. * Items 1297–300. Links In English: * Instruction manual in English for the First Six and Firstflex at Butkus.org's Orphan Cameras In Japanese: * Pictures of a viewfinder-only First Six http://f.hatena.ne.jp/ryoma_photo/20100723151059 http://f.hatena.ne.jp/ryoma_photo/20100723114210 http://f.hatena.ne.jp/ryoma_photo/20100723114316 http://f.hatena.ne.jp/ryoma_photo/20100723115534 in Ryoma_Photo's Hatena Fotolife gallery Category: Japanese 6x6 viewfinder folding Category: Japanese 6x6 rangefinder folding Category: F